Families fear returning to the sector of the sinking registered last Wednesday night. For now, institutions collaborate in the evacuation of homes.
Zaruma, El Oro
Clara Fierro Brito returned to look at the site of her home, which was more than 120 years old. There, he said he felt pain and helplessness at the thought that he could not get anything out of his belongings.
“I stayed on the street and all my memories left,” lamented Fierro, while being consoled by her sister, a few meters from her home that collapsed in the area of the sinkhole registered last Wednesday in the center of Zaruma.
She is one of the 300 people who lived in almost a hundred homes that were evacuated as a preventive measure since last Wednesday night due to the sinking.
On Wednesday, two houses collapsed, including his home, and another was damaged.
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“I was lying on my bed, we heard about 20 detonations and people began to shout to get out of the houses, I couldn’t get anything out of my house and in less than a quarter of an hour my house fell,” said the woman.
Fierro lost a set of new furniture that he had bought a few months ago, his clothes, televisions, kitchen, a computer, family photos, and more items. “” They were the saddest minutes of my life when they warned us that cracks formed in the foundations of our house, we barely managed to get out and my house fell, I lost everything … I have nothing, “said the owner of one of the houses heritage destroyed.
He regretted, like other residents, that there are still no solutions to stop illegal mining. “We even lose our houses and no one has given us help,” says the woman.
Families fear returning to the sinkhole sector
From Thursday until the morning of this Friday, inhabitants continued with the evacuation of their belongings with the help of elements of the Fire Department, Police, Army and Red Cross.
“We are taking things from my son’s house that he managed to achieve with so much effort, with what is happening I think it will be impossible to return to live in this sector, because the risk will continue due to illegal mining,” said Yuliana Sánchez, who with The help of some relatives shipped the belongings in a rented van.
The electric power service was suspended due to the fall of poles and networks in the area of the sinkhole. Likewise, commercial premises will also have to close their doors, generating economic losses due to the cessation of their activities.
“It has been more than 30 years of service to our customers and today we have to leave because we are at risk,” said the owner of a flower shop, located on 10 de Agosto and Bolívar streets, less than a block from the new sinkhole.
Given the situation, the National Government ordered a geological study to find definitive solutions in the area of Calle Colón and other areas affected in recent years in the town of Orense. In order to coordinate the necessary resources, the declaration of a state of exception was established and, in addition, government institutions manage the delivery of aid.
The danger remains latent in the area with the breakdown of structures surrounding the area of the sinkhole, on Colón, November 29 and Alberto Castro streets. The authorities reported that the risk perimeter of the sinking was expanded from 25 to 30 meters in diameter.
The local COE met this morning to continue with the damage assessment. (I)
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